Poet Guest Amy Ballard & Giveaway!

Author Amy Ballard

Carrie, thanks so much for having me. It’s great to be able to hang out on your blog and meet some of your readers.

To introduce myself, I’m a high school English teacher and freelance writer living in southern Idaho. I grew up in Maine, scribbling away at my journals and poems while homeschooling. I went on to study Creative Writing at Bob Jones University, then launched my writing career by working as a correspondent for the Times-News, a newspaper in Twin Falls. When I became certified to teach and became a full-time public school teacher, I had a lot less time for writing. Still, I sent the occasional manuscript out and kept believing that God had given me the gift of writing, and that over time, I’d see results.

Some of your readers will know my mother, award-winning inspirational author Susan Page Davis (susanpagedavis.com). Mom has been a great encouragement to me as a writer at every step along the way.

Now it’s finally time to celebrate the release of my poetry chapbook, Landlocked. It’s about place—the importance of place to the psyche, the craving we all have for our own place, and homesickness. My mom used to tell me that I bloom where planted. That’s true, but moving from Maine to Idaho hasn’t been a completely seamless transition. The journey isn’t over, and I still get homesick for New England after sixteen years in the West. But God has not failed to reveal the blessings of being right where He has placed me. In the seventeen poems in Landlocked, you’ll see my struggle at several points along the journey toward accepting my new home.

Some people don’t realize they like poetry. I mean, we know and cherish poetic passages from many sources—songs, Bible stories, even TV commercials—and don’t realize they’re poetry. We associate poetry instead with bad run-ins with Shakespeare in high school, or with cheesy greeting card verse. Really, poetry is for everyone. If you’ve ever sung along with a catchy tune on the radio or savored the wording of a favorite Psalm, it’s for you, too.

Here’s one of the poems from Landlocked:

DISCONTENT

Driving home from church, some evenings,

Dad would point to the western sky

Where purple clouds were gathered.

“If we were in Oregon,” he’d say,

“Those would be mountains!”

His native state must be like Heaven,

The way he talked. “I dreamed I died

And went to Oregon.”

His discontent grated on the rest of us

At times. Look around!

The Maine air’s so clean

They try to bottle it!

Now I live that same displacement.

Sometimes I wish these glorious mountains

Were only purple clouds.

Incidentally, my parents have moved from Maine to Kentucky, so the old saying, “You can never go home again” is true in my case. Now when I visit Maine, I’m a tourist. And that’s okay.

Landlocked by Amy Ballard

Here’s a poem that shows the other side of the coin, a time when I could see the beauty in my new surroundings.

THE PRAIRIE IN FALL

What is it like to live in the city

and not have geese swimming overhead

in fine formation

while cows graze the yellow stubble?

Never to watch the shadow of a white cloud

glide along the foothills

like blue-violet paint on a roller?

The convenience of a corner store

and the proximity of movie theaters

could not replace the prairie’s splendor

in fall.

When Paul wrote, “I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content,” he wasn’t talking about “states” as in organized political communities under a government, but I’ve had to learn to be content in different geographical states. Granted, it’s not a true culture shock. Mainers and Idahoans speak (roughly!) the same language. One of my friends is a missionary in Croatia, and I can only imagine the sense of uprootedness she must feel. I know her faith in God is teaching her contentment, too.

I would like to encourage readers to allow God to work contentment in their lives. Reading my poems, you’ll know that it’s been a tough growth process for me and that the process isn’t over. But I believe God has put me here for a purpose, and I want to experience that purpose abundantly.

Order Landlocked at www.createspace.com/6821684.

Please drop me a line here in the comments, and find me on Facebook @christianteacherpublicschool. I blog at christianteacherpublicschool.blogspot.com. My Web site is amyballard.com.

Thanks again for having me!

CFP: Thanks for visiting OWG blog, Amy! And thanks for offering a giveaway of your book to one of our readers! Simply comment below to be entered.